Bitch doesn't think I can multitask

Snapshot 07.02.14

– I miss being pregnant in the sense that it gave me the appetite of a normal person. I would get hungry regularly, predictably, and then eat a normal amount of food. I enjoyed it. I might get terribly sick after, but I enjoyed it. I’m now back to my normal state of occasionally enjoying the food I occasionally eat. Hunger arrives irregularly and with shocking ferociousness. Pregnancy allowed me a more normal relationship with food.

– I have naturally fine, pin-straight hair. Any photo you’ve seen that suggests otherwise is a lie. I have deceived the general public before using such methods as no-heat curls, rollers, a perm, and putting my hair in various odd sculptures while I sleep. I have a lot of hair with not a lot of personality. Isobel will often say, “You have flat hair, Mama. I like your flat hair.” That pretty much sums up my situation. I’m not very good at hair or makeup or other girlie-type things so I went to a beauty store in search of a product that might help. The array was dazzling. But they are not cheap. Sticker shock hit me hard as I realized that my price points were skewed from all the time I spend in thrift stores. This was real life, and real life means nice hair products cost twenty dollars a can. I nearly bought a same size, more reasonably priced at about five bucks, before realizing it required a blow drier to work. I don’t even own a blow drier anymore. I put it back on the shelf. It’s obvious I’m going to need to find beauty products for the cheap and lazy.

– Sometimes Isobel will run over to Elias and shower him with kisses. “I just can’t help it!” she’ll squeal, “I have to kiss my baby brother!”

– Thrifting with my friend Stefanie has always been an adventure, but now they have another layer of complexity. We’ll meet up and my car, an American giant we call the Sunday Buick, is full before we’ve begun: we’re in the front seat, the kids in their giant car seats are in the back, and thanks to dysautonomia, her walker is in the trunk. We call ourselves Team Calamity and we move through the aisles of the thrift store with deliberate and careful motions. I have the baby in a sling, a bag over my arm, and Isobel by the hand. She balances purchases and her purse on the seat of her walker. Life can slow us down, but nothing’s gonna stop Team Calamity from half off day at the Catholic thrift store.

– That slow sizzle you hear in the background is California receiving its comeuppance for the mild winter we enjoyed while the rest of the country endured the Arctic winter. Summer will be long and painful and this week’s forecast is nothing but triple-digit pain. Isobel still wants to go outside but as soon as she does she shouts WHY AM I SO SWEATY? The plants are yellow and brown and crunch underfoot. Everything dies and dries out. Summer here is like winter other places. Summer is death.

– Internet pal Bethany of Reware Vintage blog and shop, sent us all some vintage goodies, including these clothes for Elias and this adorable Care Bears bag for Isobel. I am particularly interested in that red hoodie, because I had the exact same one when I was a kid! I vividly remember a photo of me in it with yellow plastic sunglasses with the lenses popped out. I’m still looking for this photo, which I swear exists. If you love vintage you really need to check out Bethany’s shop. It is a thing of beauty and full of vintage goodness.

– The first hummingbird chick has left the nest, and by the time you read this, the second might already be gone. That happened fast!

Comments

Re: Hair – try a “sea salt” spray. I have much less hair than you do, but it’s fine. The best product I’ve tried is a texturizing salt spray – apparently called “Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Spray”. http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20720151_20714845_21356717,00.html And I got it for the fabulous price of “free” from a friend who has too much volume and waves!

You know, I am a voracious thrift-er myself. I recently moved from my boiling-lava-hot home of nine years, Richmond Virginia, to return to the frigid North (it was 70 degrees the other day, oh my STARS). Anyway.

There are not as many thrift stores up here *sob* but still, I often find Care Bears stuff. If I find something in good condition, is it totally creepers if I buy it and ask for your address to send it to Isobel?